Russia Watch Thread

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caltrek
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Edit: Earlier, I had placed an accidental double post in this slot. So now, I am placing this article here instead. I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion.

Finland Moves to Wall off Its Combative Neighbor
by Mie Olsen
November , 2022

Introduction:
(Courthouse News) LAPPEENRANTA, Finland (Courthouse News) — Since the moment Russia invaded Ukraine in February, its Nordic neighbor Finland began the process of political, cultural and financial detachment from Moscow.

That process culminated a few weeks ago when the Finnish government agreed to put 6 million euros ($5.95 million) aside for a pilot project to construct a small fence at the Russian border. If the project succeeds, the plan is to build several extensive walls along the 832-mile eastern border over the next four years.

In September, Finland followed other countries like Latvia and Estonia and banned all regular tourist visas for Russian applicants. The decision has put a stop not only to Russian travelers entering the European Union, but also to a long tradition of free movement between the two countries.
Juhana Aunesluoma, professor of political history at Helsinki University, said the planned fence is an expected development given the current circumstances but is also a significant break from the tradition of an open border.

“Although Russia and Finland are quite different in economy, political structure, and social conditions, they have historically been very close," he said in an interview. "There has been frequent exchange of people, goods, and money over the border. It used to connect rather than divide. But that has changed now."
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/finland ... neighbor/

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Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rise in Russia undermines hope that Putin’s successor will be any better
November 7, 2022 7:30 am

Russia, like most modern countries, sees matters of defence, security and foreign policy as something that should be controlled by the state. So under the constitution it is prohibited for private companies to run military forces or for individuals to fight in armed conflicts abroad.

Yet last week, the world’s most infamous mercenary firm opened a showcase in the heart of St Petersburg’s business district, a military and technology hub in a glistening 24-storey glass building designed to resemble a ship. The firm’s name is emblazoned above the entrance. And there were declarations that this “patriotic” venture would make the nation stronger in front of an audience of military veterans in uniform and young professionals invited to celebrate the event.

There has always been a surreal edge to Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship where lies, truth and distorted reality collide in spectacular fashion, as the world has learned to its cost. Yet, this unusual corporate opening marked the latest step in a series of significant moves made by a sinister man who has caused untold misery around the world with secret armies of soldiers and trolls, which are involved in nefarious activities on at least three continents.

As Russia’s stupid war in Ukraine stumbles, humiliating the Kremlin and a vain leader who has never looked more out of touch during 22 years in power, there is growing suspicion that this character may even be making an unsubtle play to succeed the president.

His name is Yevgeny Prigozhin. He is the boss of Wagner Group, a mercenary firm co-founded by a former special forces officer with Nazi tattoos, and allegedly named after Adolf Hitler’s favourite composer. You may have seen the burly Prigozhin in videos inviting prisoners from penal colonies to join his forces on the Ukrainian front line, promising freedom if they survive six months of fighting.
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/yevgeny-pri ... =operanews
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caltrek wrote: Thu Nov 03, 2022 4:04 pm Edit: Earlier, I had placed an accidental double post in this slot. So now, I am placing this article here instead. I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion.

Finland Moves to Wall off Its Combative Neighbor


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Finland
Extremely sad. Borders disrupt ecosystems and prevent animal movement and migration. They're an affront to the human spirit and cage us inside these prisons we call "countries." To enter a country is like going through the eye of a needle, it violates the natural rights of every citizen.

Moreover a border fence doesn't stop tanks. All this does is harm Finnish and Russian citizens, remove their rights, and encourage animosity and further conflict.
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Wow. While watching this, you could sense a shift in the guests' attitude towards the war with Ukraine.

To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
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After Putin – What?
by Vladislav Zubok
November 9, 2022

Introduction:
(Bulletin of Atomic Scientists) Before February 24, 2022, many observers in Europe and North America considered Russian President Vladimir Putin a ruthless but pragmatic autocrat. But after the murderous invasion of Ukraine, Putin comes across as an aggressive gambler, a believer in historical myths (Zubok 2022a), and a Nietzschean power-grabber (Radchenko 2022).

For many, especially in Eastern Europe, Putin came to be an embodiment of “eternal Russia”: the country that has always been bent on conquest and therefor is dangerous. From Finland to the Baltic states, from Poland to Romania, many privately consider Putin’s Russia as a successor to the Soviet Union and the Russian empire. The tsars and communist rulers were all the same: imperialists bent on colonizing and expanding. And Russian people “always needed a strong leadership.”[1] This reductionist view, which equates Putin, Russia, and the Russian people, is in rapid ascendance inside Washington, D.C., too—from the so-called “national security state” to think tanks. As US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed it: “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine” (Rubin 2022).

This is Cold War language. In a secret doctrine—known as NSC 20/4—that the United States adopted in November 1948, the National Security Council stated that the American security aim was “to encourage and promote the gradual retraction of undue Russian power and influence from the present perimeter areas around traditional Russian boundaries and the emergence of the satellite countries as entities independent of the USSR” (Office of the Historian, Foreign Relations of the United States 1948).

But does Putin really embody what Russia is about? Does a more advanced and stronger Russia always need to be a more aggressive nation against its neighbors? And would Putin’s successor be pursuing the same goals as the current Kremlin ruler?

Not necessarily. Rather, when looking back three or even two decades ago, one finds out the opposite was true.

[1] … The phrase about the Russians always in need of the strong leader is from an interview of the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas available at: https://www.blick.ch/politik/estlands-p ... 9969.html.
Read more here: https://thebulletin.org/premium/2022-1 ... t-heading
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Vladimir Putin to make Russia a 'digital concentration camp' with QR code 'handcuffs'
12:12, 1 Dec 2022

Vladimir Putin is planning to turn Russia into a “digital concentration camp” where people will be forced to wear "QR code handcuffs", it has been claimed.

The vast majority of people would be "forbidden from leaving their own locality" if the plans come to fruition.

This is intended to coincide with the imposition of martial law and a new round of mobilisation, alleged Telegram channel General SVR.

Most Russians would be barred from leaving the country, as they were in Soviet times when they needed hated “exit visas” to go abroad.

A digital QR colour-coded handcuffing system is under discussion by 70-year-old Putin’s inner circle, it claimed
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new ... l-28627318
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Astrakhan today and in the past.

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